Vacuum-unloader for railway-cars and the like.



F. GIRTANNER. VACUUM UNLOADER FOR RAILWAY CARS AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED 050.21. I9I7.

' M301 4%70 Patentedy Apr. 22, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

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F. GIRTANNER. VACUUM UNLOADER FOR RAlLwAY CARS AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED DE02?. 1917.v

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Apr. 22,

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Specification of Ietters Patent. Patented Api'. 22, llifilllil).

x Application filed December 27, 1917. Serial No. 209,022.

To all whom. it may concern.'

Be it known that LFREDERIGN. GIRTANNER,

a citizenof the United/States of America,

residing at the cityof St. Louis,"State of Missouri, United States of America, have invented a certain new and useful Vacuum- Unloader for Railway-Cars and theY like,

of which'the following issch a Stull, clear, and exact description as will enable any one skilled in the art to whichit appertalns to make and use the same, reference beinghadv Cal.

' Another object of myinvention is to improve the details of construction of the unloading device. l

In the accompanyin drawings, which illustrate one form o unloading device made in accordance with my invention, to-

gether with a portion of a'boilerroom and railway car in connection with which the same is used, Figure 1 is a side view partly in section; Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the upper part of the unloading device; Fig. 3 is a front view; Fig. 4 is an enlarged side view of the lower part of the unloading device, partly in section; and Fig.

5- is an enlarged section taken on the line 5--5 of Fig. 4.1

Like marks of reference refer to similar.

parts in the several views of the drawings.

10 represents the front wall of a boilerl room adjacent to which is a track 11, upon whichis a railway car 12 containing coal or other material to be unloaded and carried through windows 13- into the boiler room.

Secured to the wall 10 hf theboiler room is l a track 14 upon which travels a carriage 15 supporting a sheave 16, around which passes achan-17. The end of the chain 17 is se\ cured to a conduit 18 extending from the interior of the car 12 through the windows 13 into the 'boiler room. ,The conduit 18 is provided with a blast nozzle 19, through which is `forced steam, air or `other fluid to create a vacuum in the conduit 18, in order to convey the material. The flow of fluid passing directly u .allowed to enter the horizontal portion 31 through either the upper opening 33, one of through the nozzle 19 is controlled by a valve 20 and the fluid is supplied to the nozzle from any suitable source by means of a leXible tube 21.

Secured to one end of the yconduit 18 kis a discharge chamber 22, having an open bottom 23 through which the material is discharged, as best' shown in Fig, 1 of the drawings. Arranged in the discharge chamber 22 is a deflecting plate 24 which is pivoted at v25 and yieldingly` held in osition by means of a weight 26. A stop 2 limits the -movement of the lower endfof the plate toward the conduit 18. ln order to prevent the plate 24 from striking against the rear wall of the discharge chamber 22 l provide a block 28 of wood, or similar comparatively soft material.. rihe steam or air used for carrying thev material toward the conduit 18 passes upwardly through a discharge ipe 29. lin order to prevent steam or air rom (Y into the discharge pipe 29 l provide a ba e plate 30 extending from the top of the discharge chamber down! wardly to a point below the end of the conduit 18, so that steam or air will be forced to rst pass downwardly before passing out through the pipe 29, thus insuring the discharge of the fine dust downwardly.

The lower end of the conduit 18 is proe vided with a horizontal portion 31 having `an up-turned end 32 into which the air is drawn by means of the vacuum created by the blast nozzle 19,. The coal, however, is

the side-openings 34, or the bottom opening 35. ln order that only one of these openings may be operative at a time l provide the. horizontal' portion 31 with a rotary sleeve 36, having formed init an opening 37, which is ada ted to be brought into register with one o? the openings 33, 34 or 35.v ln order tosupport the lower end of the conduit 18 l provide the horizontal portion 31 with `a band 38 having an eye 39, which is attached to one end of a chain 40, which chain passes over a sheave 41 carried by a 1 carriage 42,- similar to thecarriage 15 hereinbefore referred to. ln order to secure the chain 40 l provide the band 38 with a 'hook 43 adapted to be engaged with one oit the links of the chain 40, and li also provide the conduit 18 with a similar hook 44, adapted to engage with one of the links of the chain 17.

The operation of my device is as follows: I he car 'being in the osition shown in Fig. 1, steam or air is al owed to enter the nozzle 19 thus forming a vacuum which will cause the material in the car to be carried through the conduit 18 and discharged into the boiler room, as best shown in Fig. 1. The ysleeve 36 may be rotated to uncover the upper openings 33, one of the openings 34, or the bottom opening 35. 'The upper opening 33 will ordinarily -be used, as l find this gives the best results. 1n order, however, to convey the last material in the car it may be necessary to uncover the openings 34 or 35. It will be evident that by moving the carriages and 42 along the track the conveyor may be shifted from one end of the car to the other, thus discharging the entire contents without moving the car. When the conveyor is not in operation it may be drawn up close to the track by means of the chains 17 and 40.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An unloading device comprising a normally horizontal tubular portion provided with an air inlet and an inlet for the material to be unloade an upwardly extending continuation' of said tubular portion provided at its upper end with a discharge chamber, and independently operated means arranged at the upper and lower ends of said upwardly extending portion for raising and lowering the device.

An unloading device comprising a normally horizontal tubular portion provided with an air inlet and an inlet for the material to be unloaded, an upwardly extending continuation of said tubular portion provided at its upper end with a discharge chamber, and independently operated means arranged at the upper and lower lends of said upnf'ardly extending portion for raising and lowering the device, said means being independently movable laterally.

3. An unloading device, comprising a conduit provided r,at one end with a discharge opening and at the other with an air inlet, and a sleeve arranged intermediate of the ends of the said conduit and provided with an inlet for the material to be unloaded, said sleeve being rotatable t0 adjustably position said inlet.

l. An unloading device, comprising a conduit, means for forcing the material through said conduit, a chamber into which said conduit discharges, said discharging chamber having an outlet for the material at its lower end and a discharge opening for the air at its upper end, a yielding deilecting plate against which the material strikes, the inlet and discharge openings being arranged at the same side of said defiecting plate, and a baille plate dividing the upper portion of' said discharge chamber into two parts, one of which communicates with the air dis charge, and the other with the end of said conduit. v

In testimony whereof, 1 have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal.

FREDERICK GIRTANNER. [1.. 9.] 

